Return of the Slayer
by smrogers
Summary: Continued from the seventh season, everyone is on their way to Cleveland; to the hellmouth. Suddenly, there is an attack, forcing the journey to take a twisted turn toward destruction.
1. Leaving

_I continued the story after the end of the seventh season. Everyone is headed for the second hellmouth, in Cleveland. This is my first story so I hope you all like it. -smrogers_

"Now that is what I like to call kicking some ass!" Faith sat in the seat across from mine. I sat with Dawn, who was asleep against the window. It was dark out and the only ones who were awake were Faith and I. She was sharpening a wicked looking knife that I was pretty sure belonged to Willow, but I said nothing. Willow was in the back with Kennedy, who was sitting with all of the potentials. I smiled as I spotted Andrew drooling in the seat in front of Xander's. I knew that nothing would be the same. Too much has happened not to notice all of the hurt and pain that we will have to suffer in the weeks to come. I knew we would have to make some changes and some exceptions, but nothing would change the fact that we survived. Once again, we were the heroes.

Giles, our designated driver, slowed down and pulled into a deserted gas station. He got out and started pumping gas into the school bus. The night seemed warm, though it held no actual comfort. I should probably be feeling happy that I stopped yet another apocalypse, but, instead, I seemed void of emotion. It was as if my mind had shut down and was only sending me factual data. What I saw was what I saw. It wasn't how I interpreted it, but how I merely registered it.

"So, B, what are you going to do, now that there are so many of us?" Faith sat, but at the edge of her seat and leaned forward.

"I don't know. I mean, I have dreamt about it for so long… but now…." I let the sentence hang and watched as she glanced over toward Robin. I was unsure about what had happened between them, but something definitely had. The way Faith studied him was unusual for her. Before I could ask, Giles got back in and started the bus. We headed out on the highway again. It was dark and I knew Giles was tired. Of course, he was the only one on this bus qualified to drive the bus, especially because Robin was hurt. Of course, we had stopped at a hospital for supplies because he had insisted on waiting until we got to Cleveland before he was admitted or actually treated. Faith had fought him for a while, but she caved when Giles pointed out the fact that they were wasting his time fighting. So, here we were, driving almost twenty points over the speed limit and in a school bus about to break down.

"Giles, how far are we from Ohio?" I stood up only to end up on the floor as a spear skimmed my shoulder. The bus swerved as Giles tried to keep us on the road and Faith was already ready with a nasty looking sword.

"What's going on?" Dawn woke up and began to stand.

"No, stay down." Everyone was awake and the potentials were hunting for weapons. I was on my feet and standing beside Giles in less than a second.

"Faith, can you fight from on top?" I ducked an arrow and grabbed a crossbow.

"You bet I can."

"Great, take Kennedy." I ducked and tried to make my way to the back of the bus. On the way, I armed Dawn with a knife.

"What is going on?" Xander met me in the back with a sword. The bus swerved again and Xander tripped, cutting himself with the sword.

"Xander… be careful." I turned to the rest of the potentials and nodded. "Ready?" I got a few nods back and then got a surprise as an arrow pierced the brain of one of the girls.

"Get down!"

I opened the emergency exit and began shooting the top row of demons. Again, the bus swerved and I was thrown out of the bus. I rolled and was soon surrounded. I moaned and flipped to my feet. I punched one, knocking three back before front kicking another. Xander and Willow were on the ground seconds after me. I was handed a sword and immediately put it to use. As I swung, beheading yet another unmentionable demon, I was stopped by the fire engulfing the school bus.

"Dawn!" My voice cracked at the pitch of my scream. I had no way of getting to the bus. Demons surrounded me.

"Faith… Dawn."

I swung at a familiar looking demon, slicing his neck. He fell backward and I catapulted myself over the body and ran full speed toward the bus. The fire was out but the steam coming off of the metal stung my skin. I could hear coughing but it was almost impossible for someone to have survived. I walked up to the front and saw movement.

Giles!

He was alive. I ran to the windshield and kicked in the remaining glass. It melted and stuck to the bottom of my boot. I reached in and pulled Giles out. He was hurt pretty bad but I didn't see any major burns. I could tell his shoulder was out of place and his leg was broken, but the only thing I cared about was the fact that Giles was breathing.

There was a shout and I turned in time to see Faith hit the ground.

"Faith!" I pulled Giles to safety and ran back into the fight. Willow was off to the side working some kind of magic and Xander was in the middle, fighting for his life. Faith lay helpless on the ground, probably dead. A ball of flames appeared in the sky and each demon burst into a cloud of dust. Willow collapsed and Xander fell from the lack of the demon body he was strangling. I turned back to the bus, stunned into complete silence.

"Buffy?" Willow walked up to me and softly touched my arm. I turned to her, giving her a blank stare. I had no idea what had just happened. How could an ambush happen so quickly after the destruction of the hellmouth, and where exactly did it come from if the city had been completely destroyed?

Giles groaned and I was immediately at his side. "Giles?" I tried to feel for a pulse but was too shaky. Willow put her jacket underneath his head and wiped blood from his face. Xander came up behind us and collapsed at Giles' feet. For a moment, each of us just stared at each other in silence. Behind me sat the bus, smoldering and completely destroyed. Inside was Dawn… my baby sister who I had died for and cared for…. Nothing could change what had happened and nothing would.

Giles looked at me. I could see every ounce of hurt in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Buffy."


	2. Hospital Questions

_Continued from Leaving. _

We sat in silence. There was nowhere for us to go. We had no car and Giles couldn't walk. His leg had a break somewhere around the knee and Willow had taken to making him feel more comfortable. He drifted between sleep and consciousness, though each time I thought he was awake, he would look at me, apologize and then drift back into the darkness around him. I stood guard, waiting for more demons to just appear out of nowhere and attack us. Isn't that what the others had done? There had been no warning and it was rather odd that they had all banded together. In my experience, demons didn't fight with other types of demons. Seclusion of the species was sort of their 'thing' but since the attack, I was starting to have second thoughts about that myth.

"We have to get him to the hospital." Xander knelt beside Giles. His hands shook and I knew that Xander was scared. Giles had to make it. There was no choice about it. I couldn't lose anyone else. It was ironic that we were the only ones left; the original four. It always seemed to be the end of the world. This time, I had stopped that from happening, but yet the fate of the slayer left me hurt and almost helpless once again. Would the pain ever stop, or would there be more just waiting for us to walk right into the trap?

"Willow, is there anything you can do? Is there a spell or something… anything?" I stared at her, watching her eyes scan him.

"I could try and heal the wound until we get help, but I would need supplies and I don't think we can salvage anything from the wreck." She stood up and looked out at the road. We hadn't seen a car coming since the gas station, and, right now, it was crucial that we get to a hospital. "I can try to summon help. Maybe if I concentrate, a car will drive by." Willow stood in the middle and bowed her head. The air stilled for a moment. So far, this was the best plan, though we had no idea how far the next car would be. If we didn't hurry, Giles could die.

I sat by the nearest tree and closed my eyes. I could feel my heart pumping in my chest. My blood was hot, despite the chill of the wind. Soon, Xander sat down next to me. "You need some rest, Buffy. I can keep watch."

I looked at him but was ultimately too tired to argue. So much had happened in the last two days. Rest was something I just hadn't had time to do. Now, it seemed, would be the best time for it.

"Buffy, wake up." Xander shook me and I jolted awake. Instantly I was on my feet and ready for the fight, except there wasn't going to be a fight. Xander pointed to the headlights coming down the road. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I smiled.

"We have to make them stop."

Willow was already on the side of the road, flagging them down. Slowly, they came to a stop in front of us. We were lucky enough to get an elderly couple in minivan. There was enough room for all of us. They turned the van around and began speeding toward the next town. It took about two hours, but before long we were at the hospital, waiting.

"How long have we been here?" Xander paced the room, clearly worried but also visibly tired.

"Xander, maybe you should rest? We will wake you up if we hear anything." I made him sit in one of the bigger chairs, meant for people who would be waiting for a while, and we would be. He agreed and soon he was drooling on the arm.

"What are we going to do now?" Willow sat curled up on the floor by Xander's feet. She looked up at me, waiting for me to say something important. I had nothing, though. I had no advice to give her and I had no idea what we would do now. Everything that I had stood for not five hours before had crumbled down around me. Had we been one second off of any of it, we would all be dead. But something had been out there with us. Whether it was some god that Willow prayed to or an angel watching out for me, it had failed me. Dawn was dead. Anya was dead. Every potential slayer, made strong by Willow's spell, was dead. Faith was dead. Robin was dead. Sunnydale was destroyed. Spike was gone and now Giles was unconscious inside of a strange hospital. We had nothing.

"Are you Buffy?" A doctor walked up to Willow. He was young and held a clipboard. I turned and walked over to them.

"I am." I said.

"My name is Dr. Mallery. I would like to speak with you." He looked around me, studying the shape of our outfits, hair and dirty faces. He noted Xander, asleep in the chair and then turned back to me. "The man that you brought in, is he of relation to you?" I looked at Willow. She watched me. I didn't know if I should lie or not. "Please, it could be useful."

"No. He is a friend of the family, but he has no one else."

Dr. Mallery sighed. "I am technically not supposed to tell you anything, but because we know nothing of this man and you are all he has, I will add an exception."

"Thank you."

"I am going to ask you some questions and I beg that you tell me the whole truth." I nodded. "What is the man's name?"

"Rupert Giles."

"Who are all of you and what is you relation to each other?"

I sat down. "First, can I ask how you knew my name?"

"The man whispered it a few times." He looked at me, waiting for my answer.

"I am Buffy Summers. This is Willow Rosenberg and Alexander Harris. We are all really close friends, including Giles."

"Ok." Dr. Mallery wrote down something on the paper, but returned to the conversation quickly. "Do you always refer to him by his last name?"

"Yes. At one point Giles was out high school librarian."

"What kind of work does he do now?"

"Well," I paused. What was he doing? I couldn't necessarily tell the doctor that he returned here from England to help us battle the first evil and kill a hoard of terekon vampires, while at the same time extinguishing the hellmouth. "He had moved to England a while back, less than a year, though. He had come back a couple months ago."

"Why did he come back?"

"He was just visiting."

The doctor looked up at me. "Visiting there or here in the United States?"

I paused, again trying to come up with a likely answer. "I am unsure. Giles had moved up there for a while, but he had returned for a visit. I don't know what had happened in England and I am unsure if Giles had planned to move back."

Again, Dr. Mallery jotted down notes on the clipboard. "I have one final question for you to answer." I nodded. "What happened to you all?" His brown eyes met mine and he held my gaze with intensity. I sighed and stood up again. He stayed sitting. I faced away from him, only looking at Willow.

"We were heading to Ohio. That is where we are going. I have someone up there that wanted me to move there. Giles was coming along for the trip, although I didn't know if he was going to stay. There were a lot of us. Some just wanted to go for a road trip but us three, and a few more, were going to stay. My sister…" I stopped, trying not to cry. It hurt saying her name. "We were all in a school bus when the bus crashed. We are the only ones that survived."

The doctor was silent for several seconds. I didn't know what to say so I turned to look at him. He was studying all of us with a sad expression. "And your sister died?" I nodded. He thanked us and then walked away. I stood for a few more minutes before crashing into a chair.

"Do you think he will call the police?" Willow asked.

"Probably."

I watched as Dr. Mallery talked to the nurse at the desk. Soon, he was on the phone with someone, probably the police. He turned to look at me before returning to the closed door that Giles had disappeared behind. Before long, though, he returned, walking straight for us. This time, his hands were empty.

"I believe you can see him now." He said.


	3. Arrangements

_Chapter three in my fanfiction series. This continues from Hospital Questions. This one is a bit shorter but I hope you all enjoy it. -smrogers_

We entered the room and I immediately took a seat beside the bed. Giles lay quietly, not moving much and making small moaning noises from deep within his throat. For a second, I thought he was unconscious, and then he turned to look at me.

"Buffy?" His voice was scratchy and his tone was weak. I reached out and put my hand on his.

"I am here. We are all here." He tried to sit up but once he moved too quickly, alarms went off and his face mirrored the pain he felt. "No, don't try and move. You'll hurt yourself."

The doctor came in for a second but left shortly after. Nurses were in and out as they checked monitors and marked things down on the clipboard at the end of the bed. Willow walked to the other side of Giles. She looked down at him and frowned. I knew she cared for him and I knew she wanted to do something to help him, but, for now, all we could do was wait.

"We have to get ahold of Angel. I had made arrangements to meet him in Ohio and if we are not there, he will come for us. What can I tell him?" I looked down at Giles and hoped he had the energy to advise me.

"Tell him… we were… delayed. We are… coming." Giles breathed in heavily before relaxing into the still looking pillow. I nodded and looked up at Xander.

"I will go make the phone call. You two will be ok here, right?"

"Go, Buffy. We will call you if we need help." Xander touched my shoulder before I left the room. The nurses' station wasn't too far away and I noticed Dr. Mallery watching me as I asked for a phone. His eyes followed me as I reached for the receiver then dialed the number Angel had given me. A few seconds later Angel's voice rang inside my head.

"Buffy?"

"How'd you know?" I frowned and kept my back turned.

"I just had this feeling. What's wrong? Why'd you call? Did something happen?"

"Yes, but I want you to stay there. I don't know when we will be there but I want you to wait for us there. Can you do that?" I waited for a response and heard only silence. He was alone and I couldn't hear even a breath, considering he doesn't even breathe. "Angel?"

"I will wait, but only for two days. If you are not here within the next two days, I am coming."

I considered this. "Fine. Angel, thank you."

"I love you, Buffy."

It had been so long since I had heard Angel tell me he loved me. We were no longer together. I had not thought of him in a romantic way in several years, yet the yearning for him filled me. "I love you, too, Angel. Wait for us."

I hung up and turned to see Dr. Mallery standing behind me. "Buffy, I contacted the police and they are at the sight now."

"Thank you." I said, unsure if that was the right thing to say. He nodded and turned away. "Dr. Mallery?" He stopped and turned to me again.

"Yes?"

"Will the police need us there or can we stay with Giles?"

My genuine concern made him smile. He reached up and put his hand on my shoulder. "I will request you stay here. I can have them send the bodies to the morgue wherever you are staying in Ohio, if that is where you want them to be buried."

I frowned, thinking for a moment. "I will have to discuss this with all of us. If you come back in a few minutes…."

"Of course, I will give you the time you need."

I watched as Dr. Mallery left. When I returned to the room, I noticed the head of the bed had been raised and Giles was attempting to drink some water. I requested tea for him and sat down on the foot of the bed.

"I was just talking to the doctor." This silenced them and they all looked at me. "It's not about you, Giles, but about the crash. He told me that he notified the police and they are at the sight right now. I asked him if we needed to be there…."

"What did they say?" Willow asked.

"We don't. He said he would keep us here and they could send the bodies to wherever we are having the buried."

"Which is…?" Xander asked, looking at me.

"I'm not sure. Two days ago I would have said Sunnydale's finest cemetery. Now, I have no idea. Should we bury them in L.A.?"

"Sounds reasonable, unless you want to bury them in Cleveland?" Willow looked at me and shrugged.

"What would you do Giles?"

His eyes met mine and I saw the sorrow in his. I matched it with mine and he frowned. "L.A. sounds good."

"Then it's settled. We have them sent to L.A. The doctor will come in later and see that it is taken care of."

"We were just talking about the attack." Willow said.

"Yeah? What do we know?"

"Not much. All we are sure of is that we were attacked by a group of demons."

Xander stood up. "They seemed to pick a pretty good time to attack. I mean, so soon after the destruction of the hellmouth…"

"Are you saying they came to kill us because we destroyed the hellmouth?" I asked.

"Unless they were already coming." Willow looked up at me. Giles moaned and rolled his eyes.

"Of course." Xander said. "They were attracted to the energy given off by the hellmouth. When the hellmouth was destroyed, they were already coming. When they saw us fleeing… kill kill…" Xander sat back down and looked quite proud of himself. I smiled but turned to Giles. He seemed to be in thought but before the thoughts could merge, Dr. Mallery walked in.

"We ready?"


	4. The Original Four

_This is the fourth part of the story I have created. This is where the true story starts. I hope you have enjoyed reading the stories I have written. My writing is nothing like Joss's was but I hope that I will get some good reviews on them. Thank you for reading… -smrogers_

**_Two days later…_**

I could see Angel's shape at the entrance. He was waiting, just as I had asked. His broad shoulders were illuminated from behind, giving him an eerie appearance. I got out of the car and turned to help Giles out. We had rented a car, saving time but not money. We made our way to the door, met half way by Angel.

"Buffy, what is going on?" He studied Giles, though immediately assisted Giles into the hospital. Nurses asked for information and I told them we were just here to see if there was more that could be done. I explained our situation and they took Giles away for x-raying and tests. Once they were gone, Angel turned to look at me.

"What happened? Where's Dawn and Faith?" His eyes were dark and I knew he was insisting that I tell him now.

"We were all leaving. The hellmouth had been destroyed and most of us got out alive. Anya was killed and Spike…." I paused, trying to focus on the story. "We had taken a school bus and were on our way here when there was an attack. Faith went to fight on top and I was thrown from the back. Willow and Xander jumped off to help the fight on the ground. The bus crashed and…" I stopped talking and Angel pulled me in for a hug. He held me close and I took comfort in his arms.

"Did anyone else survive?"

"No. It's just us." I pulled away and looked up at him. He was staring off into some other world but his eyes had turned such a dark color, it was hard to recognize them.

"Will you be ok here?"

I stared up at Angel. "You're leaving?" I asked. "Where are you going?"

"I will be back before dawn. I want to know more about this attack. Will you be safe here?"

"I think so." I nodded and watched as his shadow disappeared from the door.

"Where did Angel go?" Willow came up behind me and watched the door as I stared at it.

"He's checking on the attack, to see if it was planned. How is Giles?"

We turned to go sit in the waiting room with Xander. He handed me coffee and I got comfortable. Willow started to fill me in on what the doctor had said while I was with Angel. "They said his leg was broken in two different areas, but it will be a fast recovery, especially if I can get my hands on some herbs. They gave him a prescription of some pain pills, which are helping him now meaning he is asleep. They are going to keep him for a few hours until they are sure he has no concussion, because he wouldn't consent to a MRI."

"Ok. So we should be out of here in a few hours?" I asked, anxious to get out of the whole hospital scene.

"Yes." Willow nodded and then sipped on her coffee. Soon, she was fast asleep, leaning on Xander's shoulder. I stared at her blank face. I knew she felt some pain in losing Kennedy. Kennedy was the first girlfriend Willow had had since Tara. Xander had lost Anya. He had loved her more than we all knew and saw. They had been through a lot in the past year, but they had loved each other. Giles had lost a lot of potentials but I knew he was proud of me for surviving the war. I also knew he was proud of Willow and Xander, too. It had always been us four. We were the original four and we always would be.

I turned away to stare out the windows. Some homeless guy was walking around begging for money. No one paid any attention to him as they went on with their lives. Another man passed him, dressed like Billy Idol. He looked so much like Spike, though his face was different and almost wrong for the look. I frowned as I watched the man walk by. Spike's face filled my mind and his last words filtered through my memory. The light that had come afterwards was blinding. I should have died there, but I hadn't. I had survived. Spike was a vampire, yes he had a soul, but he had given that all up for mankind… for me.

Tears filled my eyes but I managed to choke them down before the nurse came back out. Giles followed in a wheel chair. I woke up Willow and we were finally able to take Giles out of there.

"Where are we going?" Giles asked, finally able to maintain his accent without twenty interruptive breaths.

"Angel found us a place." I said.

"Where at?" Xander asked.

"I don't know. I have the address but I haven't had the time to ask him much about this place. All I know about Cleveland Ohio is that it lies on the second hellmouth, and I don't even know where the hellmouth is." We all got back into the rental car and Xander drove onto the street.

Soon, we pulled up to a medium sized house. It was nice and was sure to have room for all of us. Angel had told me he had prepared it for us and I knew that he had. It was tough to get Giles inside, but the inside of the house was well worth it.

"Wow. Angel has good taste." Willow looked around, smiling at almost every detail.

"There are four rooms, one for each of you now that..." We all spun around at the sound of Angel's voice. "I figured you would all be tired when you arrived, which should have been days ago, but I had prepared the place for each of you. I made some calls and had a few favors done for each of you."

Angel stood at the door way, giving us space to roam and get used to the new place. I smiled my thanks at him and continued through the house. Xander and Giles had their rooms on the ground floor. Giles' room was the masters. I smiled as I stepped inside. The entire far side wall was covered in shelves which were covered in old books. There were hundreds and more. Giles stared at them and I could see the thanks and relief in his eyes.

"I knew you would need them. Yours are gone and my collection was just catching dust. I went to England and asked a few friends for a few older ones that I knew you would want. I am still getting some in the mail. I will make sure you get them." Angel stood in the hallway, but still far enough to give us space. Giles turned to face him.

"Thank you Angel."

Within each room waited something for each of us. For Xander waited contracting materials for the many accidents awaiting this house. For Willow waited spell books and supplies helpful for whatever spell would help us. For me waited several useful weapons and a trunk to put them in. Angel filled the kitchen with food and had clothes bought for each of us, even suits for the watcher. Altogether, this was like home.

"Did you bury everyone?" Angel asked.

Giles nodded. "It was a short ceremony."

"I asked around about your attackers but no one knew anything. It is strange. It was completely random, unless they were already headed that way. The only thing I can think of is the attraction to the hellmouth. It fired off a lot of energy and I'm guessing that is what they were there for." Angel stood by the kitchen table and looked so out of place. It was funny to see him here with us again, though I knew I owed him everything now.

"Hey, that was my theory. Get your own." Xander said, pointing at Angel. Angel's eyes just stared at Xander.

"Xander…" Willow interrupted but then turned to Giles. "Are we going to be ok here?"

Giles looked up at her from his chair in the center of the room. "Yes, I believe so."

"So this is how it ends?" I asked.

"Oh, this is not the end…" Giles said, standing up and leaning on the crutch. "In fact, I would say this is just the beginning."

"So much has changed." Willow said.

Xander sighed. "We'll get through it. Besides, it was us four in the last beginning… why the next beginning start can't with us, too..."

"He's right." I said. I put my hand in the middle of our little circle. Everyone followed me and we threw our hands up as we always have… as the original four.


	5. The Anti-Hellmouth part 1

_The story continues with their first battle, or non-battle, in Cleveland, Ohio. I have set this one up into two sections and will be continuing the story. Once again, I hope you all enjoy it. J -smrogers_

I stared out at the sky. It was dark, almost time for patrolling. I glanced at the picture I held in my hand. Dawn's face smiled up at me. Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to overflow. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. Dawn was the last of my family… and she was gone. Willow…Xander… they didn't understand. So Dawn was created out of green energy to open a portal to dissolve dimensions and damage the universe… she was still my sister. She was made out of me. She was me. But now she was gone.

I wiped the tears from my face and tucked the picture back into my mirror. There were several pictured decorating my mirror lately. I had one of almost everyone who had given up their life… except Spike. I had Dawn, Anya, Faith, all the slayers when they were potentials, Robin, even Andrew… but it was impossible for me to have one of Spike. He was a vampire. He, too, was gone.

I had told him I loved him. I had meant it with everything I had, but he didn't believe me. I had used him too much for him to believe that I did actually love him. All he did was deny me. He thanked me for saying it, despite the fact that he thought it was a lie. But I did love Spike. So much. It hurt de3ep inside of me. Losing so many of the people I loved so much hurt. I knew I wasn't the only one who lost someone dear. Xander had lost Anya. Willow had lost Kennedy, the only one she had let in since Tara. I had lost both Spike and Dawn. Pain was the only emotion many of us would feel for some time, but Giles had said time would heal us. Time had healed me before, but this was just too much. I didn't know how to let go of the pain anymore. All I could do was swallow my hurt and cry until I fell asleep. Then I would have to get up and start the day all over again. It wasn't getting any easier.

I left my room, intending on heading out to patrol. Willow was in the kitchen reading a book. I stopped just to see if the paper had come today.

"There's nothing too special about it. There was a murder but they already have their killer; a creepy old man. I didn't see anything supernatural, though." Willow shrugged and went back to her book.

"Neither have I?" Willow looked up at me. I concentrated on every patrol I had gone on since moving here. So far, in the last three days, I hadn't seen ANYTHING supernatural. I hadn't even spotted a common vampire. Nor were there any open graves, of late. "There hasn't been anything out on patrol either."

"Are you saying there haven't been any monsters out?" She sat up straight and closed her book.

"We have been here for three days and I haven't killed anything. I haven't even seen anything." I took a seat and flipped through the paper that had already been proved useless.

"That is weird." She said as Giles entered on his crutches.

"What is?" He asked as he went to the refrigerator for a snack.

"Buffy hasn't killed anything yet?"

Giles looked at me surprised. "Are you sick? Do you feel ok?"

"It's not me. I just haven't seen any demons yet? In my experience, the hellmouth is supposed to be crawling with things I can kill. This one is all anti-hellmouthy."

Giles took a seat and nibbled on a slice of cheese. I stared at the unusual snack but focused back on the conversation. "It is a bit unusual. Well, we'll see how tonight's patrol goes."

Willow stood up. "I could go find Angel. He would be the one to ask if there is anything weird going on."

Giles nodded. "Good. Where's Xander?"

"He went out for food. He said he'd bring something back for all of us." Willow said as she shrugged on her jacket.

"Sure, now that we're all leaving." I said as I grabbed a stake.

"Be safe." Giles said.

I laughed. "From what? A gangster is about the scariest thing here."

Willow and I left, though she turned down a different street than where I was headed. I had no destination in mind, though I had not yet familiarized myself with the layout of the city, yet. Things were still new to me and I was still getting lost in all the alleyways.

I ended up in the cemetery, which I had mostly laid out. The moon lit the place well, though there were more trees than in Sunnydale. I inhaled slowly, using my sense of hearing as my main sight. I concentrated on the sounds of the night. Nothing seemed to be out of the normal. Every mausoleum I checked out was empty and dusty. There was nothing here so I bailed and decided to check the parks.

I walked slowly, focusing on every movement as soon as it happened. Not only were there no demons, there were no animals either. I hadn't come across one stray cat or dog. I hadn't seen a squirrel or a bird since I had started the patrol. I scanned the street and saw nothing but people late for something. It was black outside and every streetlight burned brightly onto every head walking down the street.

The wind began to blow. It was a chilly night, not likely to be a temperature found in sunny California. It was much different in Ohio. For example, in a few months, it would snow and icy out. I had seen Sunnydale snow twice in my entire life. The first time was still fresh in my head. I had been on top of a building. I was with Angel as he tried to kill himself using the upcoming sun. Once again, we had been battling the First. That time, we overcame it with less effort. Angel had been tormented by it. He was ready to give up his existence, convinced his life was worth nothing. He may have been a vampire, but he had a soul and he saved lives. His life was important to many of us, though I was unsure what would have happened if that day had never happened. Would we have gotten back together if he had never stood up there and told me how much I affected him? Would I have known how much he had loved me if he had never tried to kill himself?

That was such a long time ago. Things were different. I loved Angel. I would always love Angel. We were no longer together, though. We never would be again. Our love was so different from the heated new experience I had had as a sophomore in high school. I was an adult now and I lived a completely different life now. There were different circumstances and there were factors that had changed. We weren't the same people we had been. That didn't mean I had stopped loving him. I would always love Angel.

I decided to give up and head home. It had been quite a while and I knew Giles would be up waiting for my report. I hadn't been training lately. Giles was hurt and I had no space to train in. There was no room in our house. Having a watcher had been important to me, especially having Giles around, but when he left, I had felt betrayal. I had gotten through it, barely, and then Caleb showed up and a new badass evil had blown through Sunnydale, taking the whole city to hell with it. Did that mean Giles was ready to leave again? Would he leave as soon as he was healed?

I opened the door and immediately smelled the fresh coffee brewing. The living room lights were on but the TV was off. When I walked in, all eyes focused on me. Angel stood in the middle of the room holding a book.

"We have some theories." Giles said as I took a seat beside Willow.

"Ok, so what's up?"

"There is something affecting the hellmouth's energy." Giles said.

Willow continued, interrupting Giles. "I thought it could be a spell of some kind; something that shielded the energy or something that repelled the demons from coming here."

"What kind of spell" I asked.

"That's the thing we don't know." Xander said.

"There's another theory, though." Willow cut in. "The destruction of the hellmouth in Sunnydale could have done something. It could have had a weird effect in this dimension and the hellmouth could have moved or it could have eliminated the hellmouth's energy here, though, again, we don't know which or what's causing it."

"Or," Xander said. "It could be some kind of perception demon causing us to not see them."

I frowned. "We definitely need to narrow this down."

"Agreed." Giles said. "I think it is safe to eliminate Xander's demon. We would have found it, too, because it would be the only one visible to us."

"The other two are pretty valid, though." I said. It was true. Spells happened all the time…. "Wait!" I stood up and everyone stared at me. "Willow, you could see the spell. When Mom was sick, you gave me a spell to see other spells working around us. We could use that same spell to see what's around us."

"We could do that." Giles agreed.

We gathered all of the supplies and Willow sat in the middle of the room. We surrounded her. Angel stood behind me and for a second I had thought he had left until Xander tripped on him.

"Sorry." Xander said. I frowned, knowing Xander was embarrassed because of his eye.

"Don't be." Angel said.

We all stared at Willow. She sat in the middle of her sand circle and the candles were all lit. She whispered the words, barely audible to me but apparently good enough for the gods. She waited a moment before opening her eyes.

"Wow."


	6. The Anti-Hellmouth part 2

_Part two- After the gang realizes there are no demonic entities or monsters on the only remaining hellmouth, something has to be done. This concludes the first mystery from Cleveland, but there will be plenty more monsters to come. -smrogers_

"What do you see?" Giles asked.

Willow stood up and looked around the room. Her face was in a sort of awe. She just gazed around her.

"Will?" I asked, stepping forward.

"Everything is so… pretty." Willow reached out with her hand and swiped the air slowly. We all stared at her. "It is like… a mist of purple but it's all sparkly."

"What is it?" I asked, looking around at what looked to me like clean air.

"It's fine, like dust. It's everywhere. It isn't really doing anything besides floating around. Do you think it is what is causing the repellant?" Willow looked toward Giles.

"I'm not sure. It is like a mist, you said?" Willow nodded. "It could be like a tranquilizer to the hellmouth's energy." Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them.

"I could look up some spells. Maybe it can be undone." Willow reached down to pick up a book. Xander stopped her.

"Wait, what if we don't?"

"What do you mean, Xander? This could be what's causing the disturbance."

He nodded. "I know. What if we didn't mess with it? Would it be so bad if the hellmouth wasn't here?"

We all stared at him. "He has a point." Giles admitted.

No hellmouth. It was a crazy idea, but could the world live with it. If there was no hellmouth, where would we go? There are demons everywhere. How would we pick a city if there wasn't an energy flowing through it allowing us to pinpoint the worst apocalypses?

I stood. "First thing first. We need to know what it is. Then we can decide if we want to fix the problem or let the hellmouth… continue."

Giles nodded. "Good idea. Let's research this spell."

I sat down and was handed a book. "Chinese Herbalism?" I looked up at Willow.

"There are some Chinese herbs that can shield energy." She said as she sat down next to me.

"Oh."

I opened the book. There was literally an herb for everything. I could grow hair anywhere no my body with an herb known as Chanubu, which wasn't originally Chinese. I flipped through many herbal recipes but eventually found nothing to do with hellmouth's or energy from hell. There was one herb that could contain a witches' energy and flow it through another being or an object.

I closed the book and set it on the table just as Xander stood up. "I've got the spell."

He handed the book to Giles, who began reading. After a while, he looked up and began to explain. "Magic, yes, but not a spell. It is a shield, created when the sister hellmouth was destroyed. This… mist was made by the atmosphere to protect the mystical energy here from being destroyed until a new opening can be made."

"You mean a new hellmouth?" Willow asked.

"Precisely. Xander's theory was wrong. The mouth of hell is essential for our survival. The barrier between the two, however, can never be destroyed completely. We simply closed the opening in Sunnydale but we didn't destroy the hellmouth. It is still there, but now it is somewhere else."

Angel stepped forward. "Where?"

"I don't know." Giles cleaned his glasses and placed them back on his nose.

"So how do we get rid of it?" I asked. Giles continued to look through the book. He flipped the page and looked up. "We don't. The magic will break when the new hellmouth is created but…"

"But we won't know where it is." I finished. I paced the room, thinking. Would the new hellmouth be placed where the last one was destroyed… or possibly in the cruelest part of the world? What if it wasn't even in America?

"We don't have to know where it is." Willow said. We all stared at her. "Well, we're here. We will have enough to worry about on this hellmouth once the shield is broken. Who cares where the other hellmouth is?"

"She has a point." Angel said.

"She's right." I said. "Now what, though? Do we just wait until the shield is down?"

"There's nothing else we can do." Giles said.

"So we wait."

_2 days later…_

I walked through the cemetery. It was quiet and the moon nearly gone. The sun had just set and the darkness was still grey. I heard a stick break behind me but I took my time turning around.

"Did I scare you, miss?"

I smiled. "No. Actually I have been waiting for you."

The man cocked his head to the side and creased his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yes. In fact, it has been so long since I have seen you; you probably don't even know who I am." I smiled, pulling out my stake. The man frowned.

"What is that for?"

"Oh, I'm Buffy… the Vampire Slayer."

The man glared right before I found myself standing in front of a bumpy vampire.

"A slayer… I have always wanted to kill one."

He attacked me, running at me with bared teeth. I smiled. It was good to find one that was completely unaware of who I was and what I was capable of and it felt good to finally be able to kill something again. No matter how many slayers there would have been, me being the last now, I wouldn't have been able to stand alone and live a normal life.

When Giles had drugged me and I had thought I was losing my power… it had scared me. I couldn't pretend not to know what was out there. I couldn't live as a helpless… but then again, no matter how many slayers there were… I was the strongest. I was the oldest slayer. Now, once again, I was the only slayer. I had to survive, or the world wouldn't.

I staked the vampire after a little gymnastics from him and a couple punches from me. He wore a surprised expression on his face before he went poof. I smiled. It was good to have a new beginning. I could be anybody I wanted to be here. The demons here may have heard of me… and I dare them to come. I am up for a fight… come and get me demons, I will be waiting.

It's what I do.


	7. Taken part 1

_This is Continues from The Anti-Hellmouth parts 1 and 2. My stories and battles that I put Buffy through are nowhere near as good as something Joss would come up with, but I hope you all enjoy my creativity. Have fun reading… The second part of the story will come soon. -smrogers_

I swung the sword through the air solidly. When my feet touched the ground, I turned to see the head hit the ground and the body turn into dust. The bulky vampire had laughed at me when I had said I was the slayer. Now, his dust was blowing in the wind and I was the one that could laugh; only I didn't. It was just another day on the job, as I would have said in Sunnydale, but here… things were so different. Nothing was the same… not the demons, not the vampires, not the hellmouth. There wasn't even a magic shop in town. Willow had to drive at least 100 miles south to get a special herb that was only used for a simple charm. Giles was toying around with the idea of opening a new magic shop, though it was still just an idea. We had nothing real solid here and a shop would give us sustenance on the hellmouth.

I wondered down the street, wondering how I actually ended up on the far side of the city. I had no idea how to get back to the house from here. It cut my slaying time in half every time I had to think about getting back. Once I actually memorized the layout of the city, I might actually manage to kill more than three vampires a night. It would help if the gang was around, but they seemed too busy to go patrolling with me. In fact, they hadn't gone with me since we arrived. I had told them the first night that I would be ok going alone for a while, but I didn't know how long that would last.

Xander had finally gotten a contracting job. It wasn't easy for him, with his eye and everything, but with some proving of his skills, a company hired him as one of the top men. I knew Anya would have loved that, if she were here.

I turned down an alley that held three biker men outside a bar. They whistled at me and one tried to slap my ass as I went past, but I kicked him behind the knees and sent him to the ground. His buddies got mad but none tried to bother me as I continued down the alley. I was bored with the night, wanting something more from the hellmouth. I wasn't saying another apocalypse, we had too many of those, but something I could fight and feel some sort of achievement afterward. The bony little vampires here barely lasted three seconds in my presence before I was dusting them. It wasn't worth a whole fight. I hardly broke a sweat.

I finally made it to a part of the city I was familiar with. I headed toward the house, knowing it would still take me quite a while before I actually arrived at the house. The cool night air was calming. It had a sense of relaxation… until I turned down the street across from the house. I immediately reacted, running full speed at the house. The lights were off but the door was open and the guard demon at the door was a clear sign of trouble.

As soon as the demon saw me, he jumped into action while alerting the house of my attendance. I didn't have time to waste in fighting with him. I simply walked up to him and kicked him hard in the stomach. He fell backward, landing on his own sword and killing himself. I burst through the door and assessed the inside situation, only there was nothing to see. The house was empty. There wasn't a sound in the house, except a small ticking coming from downstairs.

I ran down the stairs in a hurry. The basement wasn't used much, though we were trying to make it into a training room for me. I needed a place to train and there wasn't anywhere else. Once Giles was off the crutches, he would start the training again.

The basement was just as empty as the rest of the house, but as I looked around I noticed a note hanging to the wall by a knife. I pulled it off and read it.

"You will die Slayer. Well, that's comforting. What, no p.s. your friends are in the abandoned building at the edge of town… stop us and we'll kill you?" I sighed and threw the note on the floor. As long as Xander and Giles were with Willow, then they would survive… unless Willow wasn't with them.

I looked around, knowing she would leave me some bit of advice. I checked everywhere, leaving her bedroom for last. Open on the table was a spell book. The book meant nothing to me and I just tossed it away. I needed an address. I looked out the window and was surprised at the magnitude of the clue. She had physically drawn a map on the window, knowing I would look here last. The map led me passed the docks at the edge of town and through the sewers until I reached a cave. It was known as the Hollow.

I turned and went into my room. I needed supplies. I grabbed a duffel bag and threw in a few knives, a sword, a crossbow and arrows and some stakes. I wouldn't have time for a cross. I wanted to kill them, not hold them back while I escape.

Once I got there, I scouted the entire area. There were three vampires at the entrance and at least 20 inside. Walking around the grounds were 5 well armed vampires that looked like they were body builders. I made my way around the cave and climbed a tree. If I could take out the 5 on the grounds, then the three at the entrance would fan out and look for the missing vampires, and then I could knock them down one at a time.

I stared down at the first one. He was just below my tree. I loaded my crossbow and aimed, shooting once and fanning the air from the dust. I shot three more and then scanned the area for the last. He wasn't around. The guards at the door had disappeared as well. I jumped down from the tree and made my way toward the inside of the cave. I could hear talking so I squatted down in the dark and became invisible.

"Where is she?" A large vampire with an ugly face barked out.

A smaller, meeker vampire answered. "She should be here. I made sure the guard at the house told her to go to the cemetery where she would think her friends are hiding. She should be headed that way."

The leader, I assumed the larger vampire was the leader, slapped him and started yelling. "If she isn't there, where is she?"

"She won't come here, Sir. The house held no clues to this location…" The whimpering of the lower vampire halted as he was thrown to the side.

"I want the whereabouts of that slayer and I want them now. Do not disappoint me."

I peeked around the entrance and studied the cave. Willow, Xander and Giles were tied in a cage hanging from the ceiling. Willow was hand tied and there was a cloth over her eyes and mouth. They must know how dangerous she was or they wouldn't have taken the extra precautions… not that it would matter. Willow was obviously waiting for me before she went all witchy on them.

I needed a plan.

Suddenly another vampire came running inside. He bowed low before the leader and knelt in front of him. "Sire, there was no sign of the slayer and the guard at her house was found dead."

The leader stood, obviously angry. "Where is the Slayer?!" He screamed.

I stepped out into the open, wielding my sword. "Right here."


	8. Taken part 2

_After the capture of her friends, Buffy enters a cave unknown to her to battle 20 vampires. In order to kill the leader, she must figure out how to get to the one weapon that can kill him… and she must know how to use it. The weapon, however, had a history of its own. The next step is how to destroy the weapon…. -smrogers_

I stood, shining the sword through the fire light. Every vampire in the room stared at me, looking me over carefully. I had already scanned the room and my plan was already in motion. I could see the vamps in the back grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon. The leader turned to me and studied me.

"Slayer… this is it? I was almost threatened." He laughed and was handed a sword around the same size as mine. My gaze swept up him and I noticed a shiny dagger at his side, yet that wasn't the weapon he reached for. Why?

"Sorry to disappoint." I said, stepping sideways to get a better view of the dagger without him seeing what I was doing. To him, I just looked like I was planning to release my friends. The truth was, I wasn't thinking of my friends until now. I was more preoccupied with killing their capturers.

"Are you not threatened? Look around you, Slayer. There are 20 of us and only one of you. You are going to die." He smiled and gestured to all of the lame vamps staring at me with bumpy faces.

"Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot." I looked at him, trying to impersonate a vampire. "Slayer… you will die, or, prepare to die Slayer. And yet, all have failed."

"I will not. You see, I have a weapon against you." He laughed and I knew he was speaking of the dagger and not the sword he bared against me.

"I'm waiting." I said.

He growled and lunged for me. It was an easy block and I had only one mission. If I made it look like all I wanted was his sword, I could easily slip behind him and grab the dagger. He swung at my head and I ducked, kicking his feet out from under him. Instead of grabbing the dagger, I swung the sword and beheaded him. To my astonishment, the body stood up and kept fighting.

"You know, I really hate it when you vampires cheat." I said as I kicked the stomach of the body and stabbed the head.

"We're just smarter than you." The head said as it rolled to one side, now missing an eye.

"You think so?" I asked as I grabbed the dagger off of the body. The expression on the head showed alarm, but then disappeared as I stabbed the dagger into the brains of the vamp. Still, there was no dusting.

I looked around at the vampires just standing around watching the fight. "I don't suppose any of you are going to tell me how to kill this guy?" I asked as I ducked the swing from the body. All of the vamps just laughed at me and continued to look around. "Guess not."

I was starting to get bored with the fight and, as I looked around, I remembered Giles up in the cage. "Giles, how do I kill him?" I yelled up. Of course, the man was out. There was no movement from inside the cave and the smoke leading up to it was probably the cause of the unconsciousness. "Giles!?" A head jerked up but it was Willow.

"Buffy, break the blade." She said, gesturing to the dagger.

The body jerked and then tried to hit the dagger from my hand. I ducked and then smashed the blade into the cave wall. The blade snapped and then the head screamed 'no' as it dusted into a million little dirt specks. As soon as the dust was clear, war broke out. The vamps closed in on me. I ducked and kicked my way through, dusting 5 in the process of making it to the fire pit at the center of the cave. As I prepared to throw the broken blade into the flames, Willow stopped me.

"Buffy, no! Don't destroy the blade."

I threw it to the side, making sure I stayed between the vamps and it. If there was something special about the blade, the vamps would want it and I wasn't going to let them get it.

"Our leader was weak." One said as it advanced forward. "We are not. Together… we will destroy you."

I stood tall. "I'm waiting."

The vamp walked forward and swung at me. I grabbed his wrist and flipped him backwards, landing him into the flames. He screamed and others attacked. One by one, I killed the, until only 4 remained. I stared at them as they looked around at all the dusty ashes. I laughed as I witnessed the 4 of them turn and run right out of the cave.

It was over.

I cut down the cage and kicked the door open. Xander, who was still unconscious, fell out onto the dirt and awoke with a start. "I'm awake, Mommy." He muttered as he curled up next to Giles. Giles shoved him off and tried to sit.

"Get off." Giles said as he then studied the cave. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." I said, retrieving the blade. "What is this thing?" I asked.

"It's a Soul Blade." Willow said. Giles' eyes widened and then he stared at the dagger, now broken in two. "In the past, souls were gathered and put into objects, ensuring the survival of the bearer. The Soul Objects were used as sort of a carrier, holding the soul or essence of the human. Of course, the soul had to be added to the object as it was being made, or the soul would be lost forever and the Soul Giver would eventually fade and die.

"Soul Blades are a little different. Among other magic used to make the Soul Objects, a different, a sort of black magic, was used in giving the soul to the weapons. Warriors would add their souls to their spears and shields to ensure their survival during war, along with the destruction of the enemy. Blades were forged as an ultimate weapon. Blades bearing souls were powerful and dangerous. They could kill several men with just one swing. The use of the Soul Blade was fatal to the enemy and cursed to the user. Once the blade had taken a life, the Soul Giver would lose a part of himself, giving it to the power of the blade, making it dark."

I looked at the dagger. "So the leader vamp had his soul put into this blade? Vampires don't have souls."

"That's the point. This blade is most powerful because the soul was added while the body was human… but then the body died, though it was still living. The blade's power would increase with every life taken by the Giver. Since the body was dead and still walking, the magic and power taken was a black magic. The soul must be contained."

"How do we contain it?" Xander asked.

"Well, the magic used to contain a soul as powerful as this one would be just as dangerous as making a Soul Object. There is another way, too." Willow said, now looking at Giles. "We can send the soul to hell."


	9. The Soul Blade part 1

"We send the soul to hell? How?" I asked.

Giles leaned against the cave wall. "We need to make an opening. It won't be simple; in fact, the spell alone can be extremely dangerous."

"What needs to be done?"

"Someone will need to go through the portal, into hell. The soul must be transferred to a new object hidden within the dimension… an object still being made. Being the slayer, Buffy, the job is yours, however the magic involved is… beyond that of a slayer's ability. I'm not sure you could work the spell." His face was apologetic as he tried to explain to me that I wouldn't be enough.

"So Will goes with me." I stated. Giles met my gaze and nodded. Xander frowned.

"Wait a minute… we can't send them to hell." He complained. "They could die."

"We could die anyway." Willow said. "The Soul Blade is dangerous. It wields powers you have never even heard of, Xander. It has to be contained."

"There has to be another way." Xander pointed to the blade. "Maybe we could destroy it somehow?"

"We can't. The magic is way too powerful and I don't want to risk messing up the spell."

"That won't happen." Xander said, looking desperate now.

"I know." Willow said. Xander smiled but frowned as Willow finished. "I know it won't because I am not going to try. Despite how it sounds, sending it into a hell dimension is easier and safer than trying to destroy something so powerful. Buffy and I will be fine… trust me. Nothing will happen. Buffy is the slayer… and I am a powerful Wiccan."

"So you should do the spell." Xander argued. This time, Willow stood and faced him directly.

"We are going… that's the end of it." She said, turning to the exit. "Come on, we have to prepare."

"I found something." Xander held up a book. We all turned to him. "It says here that opening a door any hell dimension is potentially dangerous. Putting something inside will alter the perception in the two dimensions that are temporarily connected." He shrugged and handed the book over to Giles, who would make more sense of it than Xander.

"Oh. It says here that the opening will sustain the boarders, only allowing things to enter, however, it will, as Xander said, alter the perception of both dimensions… hell and earth will change." Giles frowned and took off his glasses to clean them.

"How will they change?" I asked. "How do we stop them from changing?"

"It continues here…" Giles said, taking a moment to finish the page. "Oh, dear."

"What, what is it?" I asked, standing next to him.

"It says that, assuming that something was left in the opened dimension, in order to sustain proper perception within both dimensions, something must be taken out to restore balance." Giles looked at me.

"So if we leave the soul there, we must take something out with us?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so."

Xander interrupted. "Like what?"

"I don't know." Giles said. He continued to read the book, though his face said he was finding nothing useful. He closed it and sat down, propping his casted leg on the couch cushion beside him.

"Ok,…" I thought for a second. "Whatever we bring back, I can fight it. That's not what I am worried about." I turned to Giles. "Where are we supposed to put the soul?"

"It says it has to be replaced into something that is being made, so the soul with stay inside the object." Willow said as she entered the room carrying four coffee cups, Giles' full of tea. She sat down next to him and reached for the book, now closed on the table. She flipped through the pages until she found the page he had been reading.

"Yes, I know that, but how are we going to find…"

"There are lots of things being made in hell dimensions." Willow cut me off. She looked up at me. "Personally, I think we shouldn't chose just any random object." We all studied her. "I've been thinking… objects can be transferred through dimensions, like what we are doing. What if we put it into something that isn't going to be moved out of the dimension?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"Rock." Willow chirped out. She seemed a little too proud of this plan. "If we transfer it into magma as it is being created into rock, the new rock will hold the soul and it is unlikely to be found."

"How do we find magma turning into rock?" I felt slightly stupid. Maybe I should have paid attention in science.

"Well," She said. "I figured, since it's hell, it will be hot and full of places flowing with lava and magma. The heat would heat the magma but once it gets to a cooler place, rock forms. We would just have to find the place where all of the magma flows without being caught by any demons or gods." She smiled and returned her attention to the book.

"Gods?" I asked, thinking of it for the first time. "I forgot about that." I turned to Giles. "What if we are attacked and I can't protect us?" Panic was starting to form inside my head. I could feel terror rising in my veins. The last god I had fought kicked my ass and had caused me to die. I would be ok with dying, but the world wouldn't survive if I didn't.

Giles looked up at me. "You will be fine. Besides, you aren't alone." He turned to Willow. "However, the heat there will be… hotter than anything you've ever felt."

Willow grinned. "I know. I have come up with a spell that will protect Buffy and I from the heat."

"Good." Giles nodded. "Good, then we are ready?"

Willow nodded. "I think so."

"Let's go." I said.

We stood in a circle; Willow across from me. The portal would open in the middle of us and Willow and I would jump as soon as it was closed. Xander would make sure nothing came in while we were entering and Giles would close it as soon as we were in. I held a axe in my hand. Strapped to my leg was a long dagger and on my ankle, a small knife. I also had a stake and a sword, the sword strapped to my back. I felt like a true warrior, however, this was nothing like the fight against the Tara Khan. By far, this was the easier of the two evils.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded. Giles said something in a different language and the portal opened. I looked at Willow. She nodded and together, we jumped into the pit of fire.


	10. The Soul Blade part 2

Immediately the heat was too much. My skin started to turn into a boiling mess of burning flesh… but as soon as Willow landed, we were fine. The fire around us was burning the air… the smoke almost intoxicating, but I felt nothing. My skin was cool and perfectly fine. I looked at Willow and she smiled at me.

"Let's do this."

The dimension was huge. I had been to another dimension… I called it heaven. This was different. I had expected something so different. It reminded me of a volcano… but, again, different. There was lava everywhere, though, when I touched it, it didn't burn me. Rocks, huge boulders, glowing red, stood out everywhere. At the end of the flat stone we were on, which stretched for miles, a river of magma flowed. I could barely see it from the blurry vision caused by the heat.

"There it is." I said, pointing.

"Buffy, look." Willow pointed to the other side. Demons were lining up. There were thousands of them. Above their heads flew a huge dragon-like beast. Sitting in a huge thrown before them was a huge demon… they were gods. "There are two of them. We have to make sure we stay hidden."

We squatted behind a big rock and listened. The god sitting down was angry.

"Who opened the portal?" He bellowed. "It is fatal to this dimension if the doorway is constantly opening. This is the third time this generation. Who opened it?!" He threw one of the minions in front of him into the molting magma. There was a high pitched shriek but the demon just crawled out and quivered on the ground.

I met Willow's gaze. She nodded and we worked our way away from them. Each time I put my foot down, the sole of my shoe would smoke, though the sole wouldn't show any kind of damage. The same thing happened with my hand as I touched the heated rock.

"Buffy." Willow turned back at me and folded her arms. "We need to hurry. First off, we have a problem."

"What?" She pointed up ahead. There was a bridge connecting two parts of the rock. Magma was flowing down and at the bottom of the pit was a river, black on top.

"We can transfer the soul into the magma being poured into the valley, but the magic will cause a channel. It will announce our presence to the demons."

"How long does it take to do the spell?" I asked, eyeing the river of lava. Willow looked up at me, ready to answer, but her eyes caught something and she just stared. I turned and tried to find what she was looking at. My eyes found it and my breath caught.

"Spike?"

Above our heads, standing on a cliff… was Spike. He wore his long leather coat, looking as if hell itself was just a fluffy bunny. His face was vamped and blood dripped from his mouth. He stood staring down. As I watched, he turned and looked at me. I ducked behind a rock but I knew he had seen me. What had happened to him?

"Buffy, we have to move." Willow started around the rock but once we were relocated, it was harder to see the river.

"Willow, we can't do the spell here." I said.

"We have no choice. We cannot let them see us… especially now that we know Spike is here."

She sprinkled a few herbs on the ground, whispering a spell to keep them from melting. I placed the broken blade in the center of the herbs and she closed her eyes. I kept mine open, knowing something was going to go wrong. She said a few words and then it seemed time stopped.

Blue flames lit off of the blade. Screaming filled the air and the metal of the blade melted into the rock. Lava appeared; moving the melted metal down to the river… it was done. Willow opened her eyes and nodded. Before she could say anything, a howl came from above us.

The dragon god flew above us. I grabbed Willow's arm and drug her to her feet. The dragon dove, landing in front of us. I pulled Willow the other way.

"Buffy, stop." I stood there, watching while Willow held her hand up to the dragon. The dragon immediately paused. Its eyes showed shock as stone irrupted from Willow, surrounding the dragon. The only thing showing above the shiny stone was a pissed off dragon head. It growled and stared at us. Fire began to flow from its nostrils, causing us to head in the opposite direction.

Screams from the other god pulsated through air. Demons surrounded us, causing me to hold up my axe. I looked over at Willow, who returned my gaze with a misty smile. She was ready.

"So… this is who opened the portal." The demon god stood before us. He was huge… towering over us by several feet. To him, we looked like tiny ants. Of course, that wouldn't stop me from destroying him if he got in my way.

"Slayer." A British accent came from behind me. As I turned to face Spike, a dread came through me. Would I have to kill him, too?

"This is the slayer?" The god turned to me… studying me from head to toe. "The human vampire slayer… known throughout the world, and yet more dimensions. This is she who protects the earthly world… fighting for her life and the life of every other human." He looked into my eyes, his red fire to the core. "She who destroyed our Glorificus."

I sighed. Of course this would be THAT dimension. "Yup, that's me." I said.

The god bent over me. "You are an idiot. You, what, dropped in to say hi? Unlikely, Slayer. Why are you here?"

"Trust me, I'm not big on the whole me being here thing either." I glanced around, taking note of every demon within reach. To my surprise, they all backed off. The only demons within my arms reach were the god and Spike.

"Why are you here?" He repeated.

"We are here by accident." Willow said. I turned to her. I had almost forgotten that she was here.

"Accident?" He asked. Now he was towering over her, casting his gaze over the whole of her. "My, my, do we have a powerful witch over here." He held up and hand but, once his claws got close to her, he pulled back as if he was burned. He growled and turned back to me. I looked over at Willow. She was looking over at Spike. Suddenly I had an idea.

"Willow, are you ready to leave?" I asked. She stared at me.

"We still need…"

I interrupted, noticing the god's confused expression. "I have it taken care of." I nodded and the foreign words flowed from her mouth. I bent and kicked the god, moving him out of the portal's way. I turned and saw the opening, inside Giles was waiting. Willow jumped. I turned, took a hold of Spike's coat and flung him, and I, through the opening, landing on the floor just as the portal closed.


	11. Spike Returns part 1

I hit the floor and red sparks melted around me. I could hear Willow coughing. As I sat up and turned my head, a boot connected with my face and I was thrown backward. Another blow landed on my side and I rolled, trying to catch my breath. I could hear screaming and yelling. As I faced the room, I could see Spike. He was hunched down like an animal and baring his teeth toward Xander, who was holding a long sword in his defense.

"Xander." I whispered. I got up and approached Spike. He growled and attacked. I side stepped him, using my hands to direct his landing out the open door, which was conveniently left wide open. I ran after him, grabbing a chain out of the trunk on my way out.

Spike was on his feet and ready for combat. His vamped face shown with the moonlight and his eyes seemed vacant. It was as if he didn't know me. He knew I was the slayer, but did he remember that I was Buffy? Who knew what kind of torture he withheld during his stay in hell?

Spike swung at my head, missing it by an inch. I ducked down, kicking his legs out from under him. He landed hard, rolling to the side and pushing himself up using a tree. I grabbed him and threw him to the middle of the yard. He growled and kicked the air close to my stomach, missing yet again.

Suddenly a neighbor light turned on and we both paused only to look at the horrified woman staring at us. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide.

"What is going on?" She asked, looking at Spike with fear.

"Um…" Spike took the opportunity of my distraction to shove me to the ground. He grabbed my arm and swung me around the yard, flinging me into a tree trunk. The woman, Mrs. Chamblee, screeched out my name but was silenced when I got up and started to kick Spike's ass.

I threw a punch, not missing his face. He rebounded with a kick, which I caught midair and flipped into the air which flipped Spike's body into the air where he landed on his back a few yards away. I held him down with my foot, staring down at him. He growled and shoved my foot away, making me land right on him. We wrestled a while before I was able to bind his arms with the chain. He struggled for a moment before my foot connected with his face, knocking him unconscious.

"Buffy?" Mrs. Chamblee walked slowly over. "Buffy, who is this man? What's wrong with his face?" She asked.

"You know what, Mrs. Chamblee, you must be tired. Maybe we should get you inside?"

She shook her head and stared down at Spike. "He tried to hurt you." She said quieter.

"But he didn't. Go inside, get some rest. I will take care of…" I looked down at Spike. "him."

Mrs. Chamblee nodded and slowly walked toward her house. I leaned down and started to lift Spike off of the ground. I heaved him up and threw him onto the porch. I looked up to meet Giles' eyes. I looked passed him to Willow and Xander, both of whom were holding towels to bleeding limbs. I looked back at Giles.

"Is everyone ok?" I asked.

"There is no major damage." Giles looked at me and I could see the hate in his eyes. Even after Spike gave up his life to destroy the hellmouth, Giles still hated him.

"Good." I walked passed him into the house. Xander followed me into the kitchen. Willow came in second.

"So did you transfer the soul?" Xander asked. He sat down, removing the towel from his thigh.

"We did." Willow said. "We put it into some river of magma that would cool into rocks, trapping the soul there forever." She nodded and sipped at her cup of coffee.

"So we don't have to worry about some ancient vampire killing us in our sleep for breaking his whole Soul Object Blade thingy?" Xander grinned and nodded his head. "Alright."

"What is another day on the hellmouth?" Willow said, also smiling.

"I don't know." I added. "This hellmouth seems kind of… tame."

Giles entered the room and leaned against the fridge. He looked at me and then started to clean his glasses. "I threw Spike into the basement." He said.

"Good. We should keep him quarantined until we know what to do with him." I said. "Maybe he will be like Angel was and snap out of it. After all, he does have a soul."

"Buffy, what on earth possessed you to bring back Spike?" Xander asked. He had the same disapproving look that Giles had had but his was a lot less extensive.

"He was the closest thing to me when the portal was opened and I didn't really have the chance to analyze the whole situation."

"You should have taken the time to analyze, Buffy." Giles said.

I frowned. "We didn't have time. Willow and I were facing a god. I didn't have time to think about which pretty little demon I was going to drag back with me from hell. Spike was the closest thing to me other than the god. I acted on impulse and made a decision."

"But why was Spike even there?" Xander asked, standing up. He paced for a little bit, waiting for someone to answer.

"I suppose that when Spike used the amulet to destroy the Terra Khan and close the hellmouth, Spike was pushed through a portal that placed him into the hell dimension." Giles said. He still looked angry, but the logic of the situation was starting to sink in. If we could rehabilitate Spike from the monster that he had become, then he could be of some use to us.

"Giles," I looked up at him. His eyes said that he was trying. "I know you do not approve of Spike. As of now, though, I think it is a good idea to focus on what kind of a risk he is."

"I agree. Once we categorize what kind of a threat Spike has become, then we can rehabilitate him and come up with a way to… domesticate him." I stared at Giles as he continued talking. "Depending on the type of hell dimension, Spike may not have been tormented… but utilized."

"What do you mean utilized?" I asked.

"The god may have chosen to keep him. He could have been a useful asset to the god. They may have chosen not to torture Spike."

"Well, from what I can tell, he doesn't act the same way that Angel had." I started to pace.

"Look on the bright side…" Xander said. "At least you made it back alive."

"We did and now I think it is a good time for some serious relaxation." I said as Willow nodded.

"Well then, good night." Giles said, exiting the room.

I turned to Willow. "He seems really mad."

"Well he doesn't exactly care for Spike." Willow said.

"I agree with Giles." Xander admitted. I turned to give him a stern look. "Look, I know that Spike saved the world and stuff but I have never liked the guy."

"Xander, Spike has a soul now." I said.

"Um, Buffy," Willow frowned at me. "no he doesn't."


End file.
